Dissecting Political Discourse

In this episode of The Convocation Unscripted, Kristin Du Mez sits in the host chair for a conversation with Diana Butler Bass, Jemar Tisby, and Robert P. Jones. We reflect on the recent vice presidential debate, possibly the last debate of the election season. Beyond the performances, we talk about what the debate revealed about the deeper stakes for democracy: outright lies in a post-truth political world, Vance’s refusal to say Trump lost the 2020 election and his admission that he would not have protected the Constitution the way Mike Pence did in 2021, and the dangers of a “normal” sounding debate in these abnormal times. We wrapped the session with a conversation about the connections between the white evangelical “theo bros” and Christian nationalist vision of Project 2025. The team also announced the first two stops on The Convocation Unscripted’s “Faith and Democracy Tour,” inviting listeners to join us in person at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC on October 13th at 6pm ET and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ on October 20th at 5pm MST. Links to register for those events can be found on the Convocation Unscripted substack home page.